


Cold Case: Beyond Midnight

by allysonandrews1982 (FonzFan82)



Series: Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation [1]
Category: Original Work, Scooby Doo - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-27
Updated: 2013-09-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 12:44:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 16,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/900480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FonzFan82/pseuds/allysonandrews1982
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation, Kylie Jones - Blake, Danny Blake, Frank and Gloria Rogers, and Jessica and Ryan Anderson solve a mystery involving Kylie's brother, Deputy Andrew Jones. How would the gang solve the case? (see Andrew Jones Cold Case fanfiction version)2nd in series. See A Christmas Story on fictionpress under FonzFan82</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

One early morning in June, Kylie Jones – Blake was up early. She had to be at her office before eight o’clock because a client wanted to see her. Danny Blake, who was a landlord here in Los Angeles, was up long before she was. Danny had to wake up early because the telephone was ringing and didn’t stop complaining.

Kylie jumped out of her bed on the side of the bedroom she and Danny shared. No time to make her bed right now. The only time she had was to get dressed, hop in the shower, and eat breakfast before she could head on over to her law firm. Her secretary should be there by now. Her secretary, Patsy Logan, had been with her since she opened up her law firm.

Kylie and Danny didn’t share a bed like most married couples did because she and Danny had been single parents to three lovely daughters. After jumping out of the shower a couple minutes later, Kylie had a spill on the floor before changing in her work clothes. 

“Oww,” Kylie said to herself.

She was nowhere near a telephone to call for help.

After finishing fixing a shower, toilet and a kitchen sink, Danny Blake left 339 and went back to his own apartment to grab more tools and take a quick bathroom break and be on his way to fix other tenants’ apartments. After opening his apartment door, he thought Kylie would have left a couple minutes ago.

He arrived to their only bathroom. Before he could take a quick pit stop, he found Kylie, his girlfriend for several years lying on the hardwood floor without any clothes on.

“What happened, Kylie?” he asked.

“I jumped out of the shower and next minute before I knew it, I slipped on the bathroom floor. I don’t think I could go to work,” she said painfully.

“I’ll be happy to call Patsy and tell her what happened,” Danny said as he helped the forty – some blonde up.

“I will also call the doctor and see what she can do about your fall. I can stop work for right now,” he told her.

This was going to be a busy workday for him. Before calling the law firm, Danny helped Kylie get dressed in some fresh clothes. He had to help her put her light – blue bra on.

“Thanks, Danny. I really appreciate this,” she said in a painful voice.

“You’re welcome,” he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Back in Milwaukee, Deputy Andrew Jones was up early that morning. After putting his uniform and badge on, he combed his blonde hair and brushed his teeth. Before going downstairs to start breakfast, he walked downstairs to his daughter, Fredricka’s bedroom.

He went to get his daughter’s wheelchair that had been parked outside of her pink and purple flower bedroom. When he arrived into the bedroom with her wheelchair, he found Fredricka already awake. 

“Morning, sweetheart,’ Andrew greeted her.

“Morning, Daddy,” she answered back.

“Grandma should be here in a few minutes,” he told his twenty – year – old daughter.

After helping put Fredricka’s bra and put her blue short – sleeved shirt on, he found a pair of matching jeans to go with it. Fredricka had been handicapped since she was three years old. Andy had thought she’d walk on her own, but one day their doctor had said Fredricka would never be able to walk in her entire lifetime. He had so much faith she could learn to walk and after hearing this kind of news, he had lost faith.

The doorbell rang once he wheeled Fredricka down to the kitchen. Andy had always liked old – fashioned houses. This was June tenth and it was already 2001. He left Fredricka in the kitchen. Fredricka wasn’t liking her daddy’s taste of old houses.

He had been born in 1982 and had turned thirty in January. He opened the front door to let his mother, Hossena Surprise, a fifty – ish red – head. She had divorced their father, Fred Jones after he was born so he really didn’t remember Fred or his mother until he grew older.

“Morning, Mom. Fredricka and I just got dressed, so you’re right on time,” he told his mother.

“I can take over now, Andy. You should be going to the office now,” Hossena told him.

“Not yet, I won’t. I haven’t had breakfast yet,” he said.

“All right. Reminding you that you and Fredricka are having supper at my house,” Hossena told him.

“Okay. You’re taking her to your house after I leave, right?” he asked.

“Right.”

Finishing breakfast several minutes later, Andy kissed his mother and daughter good – bye.

“Remember, supper at six,” Hossena reminded him.

“Gotcha. See you later,” he said, heading to find the car keys.

His mother, Hossena had been born and raised by a big family. He had tons of aunts and three uncles.

He thought he’d see more of his aunts and uncles on her side of the family. It always had been hard for him to do so because he was always working on cases at the sheriff’s office. He did have a nice sheriff to work with. He’d found Sheriff Cline friendly. He said good – bye to the two after grabbing his keys and pistol and was out of the door.


	3. Chapter 3

After calling Kylie’s secretary a couple minutes ago, Patsy told Danny she would cancel and reschedule Kylie’s appointments for time being. Patsy felt sorry after being told what happened to her boss. So Patsy got on the telephone and dialed Kylie’s clients to cancel and reschedule for time being. They didn’t mind but Patsy didn’t have enough details to give the clients. She thought she wouldn’t explain to the clients until she heard more.

Danny and Kylie were now at the doctor’s office so they could figure out what had happened to her when she slipped on the floor. They had about a fifteen – minute wait until the doctor could see them. So Danny and Kylie were silent the entire fifteen minute wait. Danny spoke up a minute or two.

“Maybe when we get back home after this, I wouldn’t mind helping you around until you’re feeling better,” he told her.

“I know family comes first, Danny, but your job is more important, but I do appreciate the offer,” she replied.

The doctors finally called their name and Danny helped her out of her seat. The appointment didn’t last long. The doctor recommended some pain medication for Kylie for a week’s worth and see what happens then. After the doctor’s appointment, Danny and Kylie went back to the car and headed for the pharmacy to pick up her medications and head for home.

After picking up the medicine, they were finally at the apartment.

“Speaking of work, sweetie, I do have a busy day today like you mentioned, so I really need to get back now. If you ever need me, call me on my phone,” he said after helping her to the couch. She promised she would do so.


	4. Chapter 4

Arriving at the sheriff’s office several minutes later, Andrew was greeted by Sheriff Cline.

“Hello, Sheriff,” Andrew returned. 

He decided to check and see if there had been any messages on his office phone. Turned out there were some calls, so he picked up the telephone to return his messages. During his messages, Sheriff Cline came to the desk. Andrew had already returned his third call when he saw the sheriff at the desk.

“Yes, Sheriff? Anything I can do for you now?” Andy asked.

“There is, actually. Would you mind going on patrol? Nobody has gotten around to it yet,” Sheriff Cline told him.

“I’d be happy to, Sheriff. I will be back immediately,” Andy said, taking the patrol car keys from Sheriff Cline. Without thinking, Andy left his pistol on the desk. Sheriff Cline was already gone by then.

Andrew somehow left the pistol on the desk by his computer. He thought it wasn’t necessary to bring the pistol around. After the sheriff watched Andy leave, Andy again was back in the parking lot at the sheriff’s office. When the engine started, he drove immediately to the street. He wasn’t even halfway by the stop sign to do patrol duty. He saw a Buick behind him. Without knowing it, Andrew heard the Buick behind the patrol car.

Still deciding to get out (which he did), he anted to find out if there was a dent. After getting out of the car, he saw a fifty – ish couple. The man looked older than his wife, Andrew guessed. He went to the trunk was of the patrol car to check for dents. 

“Is there anything wrong, Sheriff?” the man behind the wheel asked as he got out of the car.

“Actually, the sheriff is back at the office. I am one of his deputies,” Andy said, showing the couple his badge.

The couple looked at each other, seeing something this deputy did not bring along with him, but they decided not to say anything about it. That’s when Andy spotted a dent by the license plate on the patrol car.

“You do happen to look like more of a sheriff than a deputy,” the woman told him.

“I know I’m not, but I might run for sheriff someday. The dent to this patrol car. I would suggest you pay for the dent of this car since your car did it.”

The couple couldn’t believe what they heard.

“For now, I’d suggest you go straight to the police and tell them what happened to the patrol car,” Andy told them.


	5. Chapter 5

Back at the apartment, Kylie called their friends and told them what happened.

“You’re young, Kylie. Sorry that happened,” Frank Rogers told her.

At the office, Frank was on a thirty minute break so he had time to chat with his friends.

“Could we say hello to Danny?” Frank’s sister, Gloria Rogers asked.

“He’s having a busy day today, so maybe next time would work,” Kylie said.

“Okay. Hope we can do lunch sometime soon,” Ryan Anderson told her.

His sister, Jessica didn’t hang around to chat with the gang because she was working on her weekly column.

“What are you going to do about your clients?” Frank asked.

“My secretary, Patsy rescheduled them until I’m back on my feet. Danny helped me get dressed this morning,” added Kylie.

“That was nice of him. Do the girls know about this?” Ryan asked.

“Not yet, but I’ll call them next,” Kylie answered.

“Those girls you have sure do have great single parents,” Gloria complimented their friends.

“Thanks, Gloria. I’ll share this with Danny,” Kylie told her.

Time was now up for the gang to get back to work and asked if there was anything they could do.

“Nothing now,” Kylie said as the gang disconnected.

Like her father, Kylie had taken the role of the leader of the pack. She had always enjoyed this role, and even had some tips from her father. She had been thankful none of her friends were chickens like Frank and Gloria’s father had been. Before calling the girls, Kylie decided to call her and Andy’s mother and tell her what went on that morning.

“So sorry to hear that, sweetheart,” her mother, Hossena said.

“I’m doing fine, Mother. Danny helped me get dressed this morning,” Kylie said.

After she and her mother disconnected, Kylie got a call from her brother’s department. Officer Williams told her about Andy being shot a while ago. Kylie couldn’t believe this.

Kylie had taken the role of the of the oldest child in her family until today.

“Wish I could help you right now on the crime scene, Frank, but I had an accident earlier this morning. Any ideas who shot my brother?” she asked in a shocked voice.

“Not now,” he said, “but all I can say is your brother was unarmed and robbed. We looked at his wallet and found cash and credit cards gone.”

“Who would want to do such a thing to my brother? Any more details?” she asked.

“Nothing else, Kylie. We’re sorry about your brother,” Frank said and disconnected.

Kylie cried most of the day after hearing such horrible news. First she had a fall from her morning bath, and now her brother was gone. She’ll have to pass this along to Danny, her girls, and the gang. This couldn’t get any better.


	6. Chapter 6

At lunch that same day, Kylie saw Danny walk into the apartment.

“How are you doing, Kylie?” Danny asked.

“Fine. Want me to make lunch?” she asked.

“No. I can do it. How was your morning?” he asked, turning the stove to high.

“Fine. I talked to the gang this morning,” she told him, watching him get out the chicken noodle soup, sandwiches for grilled cheese.

“What’s new with the gang?” he asked.

She brought him up – to – date.

“Speaking of the gang, it’s mystery time,” she told him.

He’d heard her say this a million times enough to know they had a mystery to solve.

“Another mystery? What is the mystery this time?” Danny asked.

“It’s a mystery I’m going to tell everyone at the same time. I can tell you one thing: it involves Andy,” she told him.

“Why would the mystery involve your brother?” Danny asked.

“I’m not telling until the gang is with us. They don’t know about this mystery as yet,” she told him.

“Then we should get together then,” Danny suggested.

“I plan to,” she said.

Later that evening, Kylie called their friends and asked them to come to their apartment. The rest of the gang arrived before seven that evening.

“What’s the emergency?” Gloria asked.

Kylie had long, blonde hair and blue eyes. They were the same coloring her father, Kylie’s brother, Andy, also had the same look. Gloria, like Kylie and Andy, also had the look her father, Shaggy Rogers did. Frank didn’t really have the same looks as their father.

“There really isn’t an emergency, Gloria. I called you all here because it’s mystery time.”

Everyone looked at each other. They haven’t solved any mysteries for a while. Ryan was the first to speak.

“It’s been a while since we worked on a mystery. What’s the mystery about this time?” he asked.

“The case is about Andy,” Kylie said in a shocked voice.

The gang couldn’t believe what they had just heard.

“What did happen to Andy?” Jessica asked.

“I don’t know much yet, but what I had just found out from Officer Williams, I knew this was a case for us,” Kylie said.

“Will you get to the point, Kylie?” Ryan asked.

“What I’m trying to tell you all, Andy got murdered and robbed at the same time. I wish I was there at the crime scene, but I really can’t because of what happened this morning,” Kylie replied.

“Sorry to hear this, Kylie. How much money did they take from him?” Ryan asked.

“What I heard from Officer Williams, all of Andy’s money is gone: his cash, credit cards and others you can think of. This is all I know for now,” Kylie told them.

“Wow. Does the sheriff’s office know who would murder Andy?” Danny asked.

“No, they don’t, Danny. It’s a bit early to tell since the mystery is already beginning. I will keep you posted on more details,” Kylie told her friends.

“Okay,” everyone said in unison.

“One more question, Kylie,” Gloria said. 

“What’s that?” Kylie asked.

“How are you going to work on the mystery since this morning’s accident?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t know, Ryan, but if I can’t help while not joining you all, maybe I can still help on this mystery here from home until I can get back on my feet,” Kylie responded.

“One more question,” Frank said.

“What’s that?” she asked her friends.

“Do your daughters know what happened this morning?” Jessica asked.

“Yes, they know. They were upset about what happened,” Kylie said, “and in the meantime, Daphne will be helping me out until I’m healed.’'

“Good for you. At least you have a minister to pray for you,” Gloria said, pushing her bangs out of her face.

“I will tell more about Andy’s murder when there are more details. I’m afraid I will have to miss out on splitting up with you,” Kylie said in disappointment.

The gang (except Kylie) got up and said good – bye. 

After the gang left, Danny asked, “Do your mother and the girls know about the murder and robbery?” he asked.

“I can’t tell them. They would be shocked,” she told him.

“Maybe the sheriff’s department already told them,” Danny guessed.

“Who knows, but I sure don’t want to be the first to tell them.”

“I understand,” he said as they hugged each other.

During the hug, Kylie was in tears. Danny sure didn’t blame her.


	7. The News about Andrew

At Hossena’s place, Hossena saw the time was a little after six. She even saw Andy didn’t arrive right on time when he promised he would. Hossena wasn’t ready to cry or call the sheriff’s department yet. She wanted to wait a little longer to see if he would show up or not.

Fredricka, Andy’s only child, was also wondering about why Daddy wasn’t on time tonight like he usually does.

“When’s Daddy coming?” Fredricka asked.

“I can’t answer that, sweetheart. Maybe he’s just running a bit late,” Hossena said, reassuringly.

“I hope so and I’m already famished,” Fredricka said.

Twenty minutes had passed. Still no sign of a phone call if he was going to make it or not. That’s when Hossena started to get worried. Dinner was already cold and neither had eaten the homemade meal of pork, veggies and fruit, and maccorni and cheese still sitting on the table untouched.

“Dinner’s cold, sweetheart. I guess your father isn’t coming. I guess I’ll just throw all of this away even if I made it homemade. I never like to throw away food when nobody ate a thing like tonight, dear,” Hossena told her granddaughter.

“But I’m hungry,” Fredricka said a second time that evening.

“I understand, sweetie, but tonight only, we won’t be eating if dinner’s already cold,” Hossena said.

“Shoot,” Fredricka said.

That’s when the telephone rang. Neither Hossena or Fredricka knew what happened to Andy at all this morning. Last time both had seen Andy was this morning before he left. Hossena picked up.

“Hello?” 

“Mrs. Jones?” a police officer’s voice said on the other end.

“I’m no longer married, so it’s Ms. Surprise,” Hossena corrected the office.


	8. Chapter 8

Later that evening after the gang split up for the night, Danny wanted to talk to Kylie alone.

“Now the gang has left, I want to talk to you about something,” he told her.

“What?” Kylie asked.

“I’ve been thinking a lot lately. How would you like to get rid of the beds in our bedroom and replace them for new beds?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Let me think about it,” she told him.

“Okay. I can wait until you’ve made up your decision,” he said.

“Thanks. I will let you know.”

“Sounds good. Sorry you’ll have to pass on solving the case of your brother,” Danny said to her.

“I’m going to miss this one, but keep me updated,” she agreed.

“We plan to, but you can try to help us solve this crime here at our apartment.

“Here’s a question for you: Who’s going to help you around?” Danny asked.

“I’ll think of something,” she said.

An idea popped into his head.

“I have an idea. Why don’t we ask Jessica to help you?” Danny suggested.

“You can ask Jess and ask,” Kylie said to him.

“I will, sweetheart. What about your mother? Wouldn’t she want to help?” Danny asked.

“She would, but I don’t want Mom to have anymore pain on her body because of her taking care of Fredricka every day Andy was working. Thank you for suggesting, though,” Kylie said.

“I do understand that,” he told her.

“Glad you do,” Kylie said.

“Why don’t we wait until you and the gang are done solving my brother’s case to get the beds?” she asked.

“Okay with me. The gang and I plan to leave either tomorrow or the day after,” he told her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that the original Mystery Inc. will be in this story time to time. Enjoy!

The next morning, Gloria and Frank were at their father’s house. Both had a day off that day and were going to be gone in either today or tomorrow. Their father’s house was small, enough to have a master bedroom, a guest room, two baths. Even the kitchen, living and dining room. When she and Frank arrived at Shaggy’s, they found the place in a mess.

The minute Gloria and Frank parked in the driveway, they noticed the house really needed a big fix – up job. Shaggy answered the door, a plate full of French toast with ketchup and syrup.

“Hi, Dad. Mind if we talk?” Gloria asked as they watched Shaggy put his glasses back in place.

“About what, sweetheart?” Shaggy asked, French toast in his mouth.

Their father hadn’t changed at all in his mystery – solving days till today. Shaggy, eighty – nine years old now had silver hair looked like it hadn’t been washed for a while. Gloria and Frank could tell Dad needed either a bath or shower.

“Dad, we wanted to let you know we leave with the gang either late today or early tomorrow,” Frank said.

“Where are you going? Wait, don’t tell me. You have a mystery to solve, is that right?” Shaggy asked.

“That’s right, Dad, but we can still be in touch while working on the murder,” Frank said.

“Where is the murder taking place?” Shaggy asked as he finished the last of French toast.

“Milwaukee,” both answered.  
“Wait a minute. Isn’t that where Andy is a deputy?” Shaggy asked.

He saw them nod yes.

“Tell me about the murder,” Shaggy said.

“Are you sure you want us to tell you, Dad?’ Gloria asked.

Every time they told Shaggy about a murder they worked on, Shaggy was always frightened either of his children would get hurt.

While Gloria and Frank told Shaggy about the latest murder, Kylie was on the phone with her father, who used to be the leader of Mystery Inc. when they were growing up. He now has gray hair, blue eyes, and hearing aids. He is now hard of hearing and had been in the last twenty years, but his memory was still sharp. Danny was already working, so there was no time for him to talk to his mother, Daphne.

Daphne had always been the pretty one in her group. She still hasn’t lost her beauty once. She, like Fred, Shaggy and Velma, she still wore her trademark light green scarf and purple dress with pink high heels. She now is eighty – seven years of age. 

“Dad, I should mention Mystery Inc. second generation has a new murder to solve. You sure won’t like the case we will be working on,” Kylie told her father.

While on the phone with Fred, he had just finished tying his ascot.

“Why would I not like this murder case, sweetheart?” he asked.

“Because it involves you,” Kylie told him.

Fred couldn’t believe what she had just said.

“Why does this murder involve me for?” Fred asked.

“Are you sure you want to know, Dad?” 

“Of course I want to know,” he said.

He had not been notified from the sheriff’s department from Milwaukee about Andy.

“This is hard to say, Dad. Andy was murdered and robbed the other day,” Kylie said as she gulped.

She had been right – Fred did not enjoy this kind of news. He didn’t catch every word of her sentence but sensed this was no good at all.

“Why didn’t someone tell me this right away?” Fred asked in a shocked voice.

He found this news hard to believe.

“The police didn’t call you?” Kylie asked.

“No! If you’re going to work on this murder, I want you to promise me something,” Fred told her.

“What kind of promise?” she asked.

She could tell her father had to break down into tears anytime soon.

“Promise me you wouldn’t get hurt on this case,” he said as his nose started to run.

“Daddy, I always have, haven’t I?” she said.

“Of course. A long time ago I had to sit out on a mystery we worked on because I had crutches.”

“You never told me this story before. Dad, I can’t go with the gang,” she told Fred.

“Why not? As the leader, you should always go along since the leader plays a big part,” Fred advised.

“I know that, Daddy. I have no idea if Mom and Fredricka know this or not. I can’t go with the gang this time because I had a accident yesterday morning,” Kylie went on.

Jessica was at her office, taking a fifteen – minute break. She wanted to call Velma, her mother. Her mother, Velma, didn’t seem to care about girly stuff like Danny’s mother, Daphne did. Her mother had always been the smart one, wearing her trademark orange and red. She had always been wearing glasses since she was growing up.

Jessica wasn’t sure if Ryan called Velma to tell her the latest murder they were about to solve. She took the chance and called Velma at home.

“Hello?” she heard Velma say.

“Hi, Mom. Me, Jessica.”

“Hello, sweetheart.”

“Mom, has Ryan called you?” she asked.

“No, he hasn’t. Why would Ryan call me?” Velma asked.

“In case you haven’t heard, Mystery Inc. second generation has a new murder to solve. It does involve Kylie,” Jessica told her.

“Jinkies! What is the murder case now?” Velma asked.

She had always been interested in the murders her children had solved in the past.

“You see, Mom, Andy got murdered the other day. He also was robbed,” Jessica said.

Back at Shaggy’s, Shaggy was in shock to hear this news.

“You’re working on a robbery case? I sure wouldn’t go for this case. It’s too dangerous,” Shaggy warned.

“We know, Dad, but we have to go,” Frank told Shaggy as he and Gloria helped Shaggy into the bathtub.

“Zoinks! I wonder how Freddy feels since Andy was his son,” Shaggy said.

“He probably heard the news by now,” Gloria said.

“Still, I won’t go for a murder like this, kids. I am sure Mr. Jones would give Kylie more advice about those traps you have used in the past. Scooby and I always had to be bait,” Shaggy told them.

Every mystery that started for Mystery Inc. second generation, Shaggy had said this. Gloria and Frank nodded.

“Is Kylie coming along?” Velma asked.

“She can’t, Mom. Yes, we know the leader plays a big part in a mystery, but she can help us from home,” she told Velma.

“Tell me about this accident you had,” Fred said.

“You won’t like it, Dad. I woke up in the morning, jumped out of bed to take a bath. After I had my clothes off and finished, I jumped out. I was nowhere near a telephone or cell phone to call for help.

“The only choice I had was to stay right where I was until somebody came,” Kylie said.

Fred sure didn’t like this story.

“If you need me to help on Andy’s murder, I won’t mind giving some advice on traps,” Fred told his daughter.

“Thanks, Dad. You’ve been a huge help in the past. I’m sure we could use more of your trap expertise advice,” Kylie told him.

That was what he was thinking.


	10. Chapter 10

Later that afternoon, the gang had packed up and ready to drive to Milwaukee. The meeting place for the gang was at Kylie and Danny’s apartment. The rest of the gang were ready to go.

“Ready to go, Danny?” Gloria asked.

“In a minute. I want to get my bags,” he answered.

“We promise to keep you posted,” Ryan told Kylie.

“Thanks, Ryan. My father said he wouldn’t mind helping us with a trap on this case,” Kylie told the others when Danny came back with his bags.

“Why do you have so many bags?” Gloria asked him.

“You know how my mother gets every time someone leaves the house,” he said as everyone nodded.

Then the gang hugged Kylie on their way out.

She watched her friends leave. She was all alone again. This time she had her daughter, Pastor Daphne to help her out. Daphne was going to be at the apartment in an hour or two. Kylie’s daughter, Claudia took over Danny’s job while he and the gang were out to Milwaukee.

Kylie turned the television to the news. Sure enough, the news started to talk about Andy.

“Ever since Deputy Sheriff Jones got murdered, a few days ago, the sheriff’s office had found blood in the driver’s seat of the patrol car. The window where the patrol car was filled with blood.

“Police have no idea who or if a witness had watched the murderers. More information on this later. Police have no thoughts to why their patrol car had to be the crime scene. Mystery Inc. second Generation is on the case. How will Mystery Inc. second Generation solve this murder? We shall find out,” the anchor said.


	11. The Mystery Machine dies

Danny and the gang were going to gas station before they drove away from California.

“We’re going to give the Mystery Machine some fresh gas,” he reported.

The tank of the Mystery Machine was half a tank of gas. The Mystery Machine Danny and the gang were driving had once been used from their parents. When the gang arrived at the gas station, the Mystery Machine broke down. Frank helped Danny check out the issue.

“It looks like the Mystery Machine died,” Frank told Danny.

“Guess so. We’ll have to tell the others,” he agreed.

Both Danny and Frank opened the van’s doors.

“We have some bad news, gang,” Frank said.

“What?” Jessica asked.

“The Mystery Machine died,” Danny answered.

“How are we going to get to Milwaukee, then?” Ryan asked.

“I don’t know. We don’t have plane tickets,” Gloria remarked.

“True,” Danny agreed.

“This is a piece of junk. I don’t want to ride in this van anymore,” Jessica said.

“Where can we get another car?” Ryan asked.

One of the mechanics came over to the gang.

“Is there any trouble?” a late – thirty – ish brunette man named Tom asked.

“Yes, there is trouble. This van died when we pulled in,” Frank reported.

Tom checked it out.

“Looks like it,” Tom agreed.

“Here’s what my thought is on this van,” Tom said.

“What’s that?” Gloria quiered.

“I would suggest you all to get a new van. This one is going to the junkyard. This van has been around a long time.”

Tom didn’t recognize right away that he was talking to Mystery Inc. “Wait a minute. You mean to tell me the Mystery Machine belongs to you?” Tom asked.

“For now, yes. Before we came along, our parents had this,” Jessica said.

“So you’re Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation?” Tom asked.

The whole gang nodded yes.

“It’s nice to meet you and are following your parents’ footsteps,” Tom told them.

“Thanks. Solving murders isn’t the only thing we do. We have our jobs here in Los Angeles,” Ryan spoke up.

“How else are we going to get to Milwaukee without a car or plane?” Frank asked.

“I know a way. There happens to be a car dealer not too far away. Let me call the man and tell him what happened,” Tom said and disappeared into the gas station.

The gang waited a while before Tom came back. Frank called Kylie and told her what had happened to the Mystery Machine.

“Hope we can get another car. Our parents had that old van several years,” Kylie reminded them.

They knew how much this was true.

“We have to talk again, Kylie. We’re trying to get a new replacement,” Frank told her.

“I understand. You can chat later and talk about the latest,” Kylie said as she and Frank hung up. 

Daphne Blake – Black, her youngest daughter, had heard the whole conversation. Daphne said not a word as she watched her mother put the cell phone back on the couch.

The phone rang a second time. This time it was Hossena, Kylie’s mother.

“Did you hear the news?” Hossena greeted Kylie.

“You mean the one about the squad car with blood in it?” Kylie asked.

“Yes. Who would do such a thing?” Hossena asked.

“I have no idea, Mom, but the gang and I are working on it,” Kylie told her.

“You better be careful. There are sick people out there,” Hossena said.

“I know,” Kylie agreed.

Back in Milwaukee, Sheriff Jeremy Cline was at the crime scene. He was having a hard time believing this actually happened. He last saw Deputy Jones, the same morning before the deputy had left for patrol.


	12. Chapter 12

Claudia, Kylie’s daughter, arrived to the apartment building once the gang took off.

“Hi, Mom, Sis,” Claudia greeted them when she walked in.

“Hi, honey,” Kylie responded.

“Do you know where Daddy’s tools are?” the twenty – something redhead asked.

“They should be here somewhere. Got any complaints?” Kylie asked.


	13. Chapter 13

The gang walked to a nearby car dealer in the nice sunny weather that day. Tom had given them directions. Tom promised he would look after the bags. Everyone walked in silence. They finally made it to the car dealer station. While in the broken down Mystery Machine, Gloria had found five or six stale boxes of Scooby Snacks in the backseat where she, Jessica and Ryan were riding.

“Why are you holding those boxes of Scooby Snacks?” Danny asked her.

“I found them in the backseat. These boxes smell like they are about nineteen years old,” Gloria said as she smelled one of the boxes. She didn’t like Scooby Snacks like her father did.

Frank helped her carry the boxes. Frank took a Snack out and tasted the stale treat.

“Yuck. It sounds like it is nineteen years old,” Frank agreed in a gagging voice.

He felt he had to throw up the Scooby Snack.

“I just don’t see how Dad liked them,” he told Gloria.

“I don’t either,” she agreed.

Sheriff Cline did not like this idea of a murder robbery that had taken its murder plot in his very own squad car. He had never heard anything like this before. In the past day or so, Sheriff Cline had started having depression episodes let alone sleep apnea. He was not having a good week. While on the crime scene with the crime scene investigators, Tony, his four – year – old son was watching.

Tony had been a witness to this murder scene and he was afraid to tell the sheriff about his being a witness to this entire thing. He could sense his father was taking this very hard.

Frank went to find a good place to throw up the stale Scooby Snack. He hoped no driver would spot him throwing up a dog treat that was almost twenty years old.

While the gang waited for Frank, somebody snuck up behind them, not making a sound. He quietly picked up Jessica and tied her up in a fishing net. Once he left with Jessica in the net, Jessica started yelling for help. Gloria looked in the east part of town and saw Jessica in a fishing net screaming.

“Help!” Jessica screamed as loud as she could.

“Look!” Gloria yelled to the gang.

“What happened?” Ryan asked.

Gloria had a shocked look on her face as she pushed away her long hair from her face.

“Over there! Somebody took Jess!” Gloria continued to scream. 

Everyone looked in the east part of town.

“Just don’t stand there. Like Kylie would say, ‘Split up in a direction and get him!’” Danny said.

So far this new murder/robbery case had no leader. Danny was asked by Kylie to take her place as leader since she had an accident. Danny told his friends he was taking Kylie’s place as leader until she was one hundred percent healed. He told his friends where they were splitting up.

Frank wasn’t even finished throwing up the Scooby Snack. He watched as his sister and friends run in all directions. He wondered what happened. Just then he spotted a white Honda coming near him. The Honda license plate told him that the Honda was a 2007 model with a teenage couple. The license plate read Kansas.

“May we help you, sir?” the nineteen – year – old boy asked.

“No, thank you. I don’t feel very good right now,” Frank told the young couple.

“What brought you here to Los Angeles?” the boy asked.

“I happen to live here,” Frank answered in a weak voice.

“You sure look sick, Frank,” the girl told him.

“How did you know who I am?” he asked, surprised.

“Everyone knows who you are. You’ve been watched on television and in the papers, facebook and Twitter,” she told him.

“We do happen to have a facebook page that lets everyone where we solve to be on that page. I’m sure it will be updated shortly.”


	14. Chapter 14

Since Kylie is the leader, she would be the one on facebook to tell the fans what case they were recently working on.

While running around, trying to save Jessica, Kylie was using her laptop Danny forgot to bring the laptop with him. While on the case she already logged in facebook, posting the latest case they had just started. Before posting, Kylie called Danny. There was no answer from him, so she left a message.

Kylie wondered how far ahead the gang was on the road. Danny did hear his cell go off. He wondered who was calling him, but he would check his messages once he and the gang found Jessica and buy a new car. He wasn’t sure what kind of car they would choose. Kylie finally posted on facebook.

"Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation’s latest murder is to find out who killed Deputy Sheriff Andrew Jones, Kylie Jones’s brother, who was killed in a murder robbery. The murder robbery took place in the sheriff’s patrol car in Milwaukee. What Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation has learned so far is Deputy Jones was doing patrol in the morning on June tenth. The sheriff’s office has no idea who did such a thing,” Kylie posted.

She posted the status within a couple of minutes.

Kylie went through the last case they solved a while back, looking through the statuses and pictures. Their last case was to solve a murder involving a football player. The football player was on the football team, the Vikings. The Coach on that team needed their help. The quarterback of the Vikings was shot before he had practice.

They had found out the murderers now are in jail for life sentence. What those murderers did to the quarterback was murdered from some kind of hostage. She wondered how they would solve her brother’s murder.


	15. Chapter 15

After the gang rescued Jessica, they were on their way to the car dealer. After looking around the cars, the car dealer stayed with them until they had the right choice.

Before looking at the cars, the gang explained why they were there.

“I’m sorry you have no luck with your car.”

It took the car dealer a few minutes to figure out who they were.

“You’re Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation, right?” the mid – twenties man asked. 

He had brown eyes. 

“That’s right, sir,” Jessica said.

The man introduced himself as David Fletcher. After looking in the fourth row of 2001 cars, the gang found a brand – new SUV that looked like the original Mystery Machine

“I think we’ll take this one,” Ryan told the dealer.

The new Mystery Machine held a five seat van with a lot of leg room, air conditioning, Siruis XM Radio, a trunk, and room for devices such as iPods and Kindles.

After paying for the van, the gang paid David. David watched the gang drive off. Before they bought the car, they took a test drive. 

After paying for the SUV, the gang took off in the new car.


	16. Chapter 16

Back at home, Kylie was watching the news on television while Daphne started lunch. That’s when Claudia came in. 

“Hi, Mom, Sis,” Claudia said once she put Danny’s toolbox down by the door.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Kylie greeted her daughter.

The newscaster said, “The sheriff’s department had stated their patrol car in Milwaukee was indeed filled with blood. While this is an ongoing investigation, the sheriff has advised his workers to drive another squad car until the crime scene was solved. The sheriff pointed out earlier today Deputy Jones was unarmed while doing patrol.

“Sheriff Cline hopes this case will close up soon. For the meantime this case is in progress the sheriff himself is in therapy to help him along to heal from what happened recently. He also reports Deputy Jones was to attend supper at his mother’s house at six that same night when he was shot in the driver’s seat this morning. Sheriff Cline stated while the bullet shot Deputy Jones, the murderer had taken Jones’s cash, change and credit cards.

“Sheriff Cline also added before Deputy Jones was at his station in the office, sititng at his desk, returning phone calls from the night before and had little paperwork to do. Please pray for Deputy Jones and his family in this time of crisis,” the anchor finished.

Kylie didn’t like what she had heard from what the news said about Andy.

Kylie knew her friends were already on their way to Milwaukee. One thing she and her friends would be twelve years in the future. She didn’t come on this case since she had her fall. She also knew her friends were going to have some fun in Milwaukee while working on the case of her brother. Of course it would take her a long time to heal from all of this.


	17. Chapter 17

The gang made it to Milwaukee a few days later. They arrived in early afternoon. They found the nearest hotel and checked in. When the gang found their rooms on the third floor, they all found a text message from Kylie. It said: ‘Write me when you arrive. K After seeing her message, they decided to unpack first before they texted Kylie.

It took Jessica and Gloria longer to unpack like Danny since they bought so much stuff. It took Danny a while longer than the guys because his mother, Daphne had packed up a lot of things for him. Unlike his mother, Danny didn’t seem to care much about fashion. He was more into sports than fashion.

“Why did your mom pack so much on this trip?” Ryan asked.

“You know how Mom gets when it comes to traveling,” Danny reminded him and Frank.

Frank nodded in agreement.

“Still, your mom doesn’t need to pack so much when you’ll be gone for a while,” Frank said.

“I know. She doesn’t need to, but my guess is she wants me to come prepared. I keep telling her I can pack my own things but she insists she pack up my things,” Danny told the two.

In the girls’ room, Gloria and Jessica were finally finished unpacking. Both girls saw Kylie’s text message. The girls could guess Kylie probably had more info on Andy’s murder case. They hadn’t yet checked Kylie’s message enough to know.

They left their room and decided to see if the boys finished unpacking yet. The guys had already finished helping Danny when Gloria and Jessica knocked on the door. Ryan answered.

“Come on in, girls,” Ryan greeted them.

“Thanks, Ryan,” both girls said in unison.

Jessica and Gloria followed him in.

“Hi, girls,” Frank and Danny said.

Gloria pushed her brown hair out of her face. People in the past until today have told her she was the spitting image of her father, Shaggy Rogers.

“Now we’re all unpacked, what should we do now?” Frank asked.

“We’re here to solve Andy’s murder, right?” Ryan asked as the gang nodded.

“I’d suggest we separate and see what we can find. That’s what Kylie’s father used to say,” Danny said.

Whenever Kylie couldn’t attend a murder with them, Danny always took her part as leader of the pack. They separated in their usual groups, Danny went by himself, Jessica and Ryan in another and last but not least, Frank and Gloria. Danny offered to talk to Sheriff Cline while Jessica and Ryan would look around for witnesses, and Gloria and Frank checked the sheriff’s office.

“If anyone finds anything, send text messages,” Gloria suggested.

“Good idea, Gloria,” Jessica agreed as the gang went their own ways. That’s when Danny checked for any new text messages and it turned out there was one from Kylie. Before unlocking the new SUV, he decided to check in with Kylie. He texted: Find anything on the murderer? She texted: You bet I did. It was on the twelve o’clock news. He texted back: Do you want to send the details now? She texted: I’d rather send the info one text at once so I won’t have to keep sending it. He texted: I could always forward to the gang if you’d like. She texted: Okay. Find any new clues? He texted: Not yet. We just split up, so it’s a bit too early for that. We’ll let you know and you can share on facebook. She texted: Sounds good. I will send the info later. Hope it helps. That’s when they signed off.

Danny finally unlocked the SUV and started the ignition. He drove immediately to the crime scene and see if the sheriff was there. At the sheriff’s office, Gloria and Frank headed straight to the sheriff’s office without any of the other officers were not paying attention. Ryan and Jessica had figured they were thirteen years in the future. They found a electronic on Sheriff Cline’s desk.

“Is that a clue?” Frank asked.

“I would think so, but we do know one thing about this electronic: it’s not a cell phone,” Gloria said.

“It really doesn’t look like one,” Frank agreed.

“If it’s not a cell phone, what do you think it is?” Frank asked.

“I’m not sure but we can try to figure it out,” she agreed and took a picture of the little iPad.

She sent the picture of the black and white iPad to the rest of the gang, including Kylie so she could share it on facebook.

“Another clue we found,” Gloria said to her older brother.

“What’s the other clue?” he asked.

“We came here thirteen years in the future!” Gloria gasped, reading the time on Sheriff Cline’s computer.

They saw the date, time, and year.

“Like Dad would say, ‘zoinks,’” Frank said as Gloria nodded.

“That’s true,” she agreed.

That’s when she and Frank heard footsteps heading to the sheriff’s desk.

“Hide!” Frank whispered.

They both hid under the desk so they wouldn’t be seen. Danny noticed the crime scene investigators weren’t around.

Danny saw the yellow police tape on the white patrol car, but he did know he couldn’t get close to the car. He saw the car was big enough for four people. He didn’t care about the yellow tape and stepped over it and got closer. He wanted to see what he could find. That’s when redhead Karen McCarey headed his way.

“Put your hands up!” Danny heard a woman’s voice say.

‘I’m in trouble now,’ he thought to himself.

“Did I do something wrong, Officer?” he asked.

“You bet you did. Do you see the yellow tape?” Karen asked.

“Yes. What about it?” he asked, pretending he didn’t know what the tape was when he did know.

While studying redhead Karen McCarey, he saw she was wearing a light tan uniform, a police badge, hair washed recently, gun in her pocket, handcuffs, and black Nikes. He knew Deputy McCarey was not his type of girl for him. While holding his hands in the air, he waited as Karen called in the sheriff’s department.

Back at the sheriff’s office, Sheriff Cline was now at his desk. Little did he know Frank and Gloria were hiding under his desk. Frank and Gloria moved out of the sheriff’s way so he wouldn’t know they were there. They were wrong. Sheriff Cline did finally noticed Gloria and Frank.

“Just exactly what do you two doing at my desk?” Cline asked.

Both knew Cline didn’t sound very happy. 

“We’re here as college students doing a report on how the police department works,” Frank liked through his teeth as Gloria nodded.

“You don’t look like college kids to me,” he returned.

Just then Karen came in with Danny.

“Sheriff, I caught this trespasser. I’m going to lock him up,” Karen told Sheriff Cline.

“What did this gentleman do?” Sheriff Cline asked, seeing Danny in handcuffs.

“He was trespassing on the crime scene,” Karen reported.

“What were you exactly doing on the crime scene? That is the murder scene,” Sheriff Cline told him.


	18. Chapter 18

At home, Kylie again was talking to her father on the telephone.

“How is the case coming along?” Fred asked.

When she and Andrew were growing up, Fred had told them so many stories about the mysteries they had solved. After hearing such stories, both Kylie and Andy both knew what they wanted to do for a living – her as lawyer and him as deputy sheriff.

“Well, Dad, it recently started. I would have loved to come along, but I couldn’t. I will be able to go along on this next case,” Kylie answered.

“I’m sure the gang has had better luck. Gloria sent some evidence from her cell phone not too long ago,” Kylie reported.

“What did Gloria send?” Fred asked.

“She sent a picture of some kind of an electronic but we haven’t figured it out yet. So I already have it on our facebook page,” Kylie told Fred.

“Was it a cell phone?” Fred asked.

“We know it wasn’t a phone. It didn’t look like one either,” Kylie said.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“I think so. The news was on not too long ago,” Kylie told him.

“What was on the news for today?” he asked.

“It mostly talked about Andy’s death.”

“Tell me,” Fred replied.

“Okay, but you won’t like it,” she said.

“Here’s what the anchor said: Before Andy left to do patrol that morning, he had some paperwork on the desk to do, instead of doing that, Andy returned some of the of the night’s telephone messages.

“When the sheriff asked him to do patrol, Sheriff Cline did notice one thing – Andy had left his pistol on his desk. Sheriff Cline did know it was nothing like Andy to do something like this. What the sheriff didn’t know Andy was in danger.

“Andy was also going to have supper with Mom and Fredricka that same night. What the crime scene investigators and Cline did find was Andy’s murder had taken place in the patrol car. The news also mentioned the driver’s seat had been covered with blood.

“Another thing the crime scene investigators did find: whoever did this to Andy that the murderers ended up robbing Andy by stealing all the money Andy had in his wallet. All we know for now the wallet has not been returned to the sheriff’s office,” Kylie finished.

“What would murderers want in money from Andy?” Fred asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know. We should work on that too,” Kylie answered.

“That’s all we know for now. Gloria and Frank are looking for more clues at the sheriff’s office, Ryan and Jessica are looking for witnesses while Danny went to talk to the sheriff. That’s all I know for now,” Kylie added.

“Looks like you did a lot of work,” Fred said.

“You know it. We did agree that once we find out who did such a thing to Andy, the gang will come back here while I defend them,” Kylie said.

“Lots of luck to you. Keep me posted,” he said as father and daughter hung up.

After putting her cell phone back in its spot, Kylie wondered how far Jessica and Ryan had on the murder.


	19. Chapter 19

Ryan sent the gang a text message: Jess and I haven’t had luck on witnesses, but we did find something. Danny, Frank and Gloria ended up in the cells for now. One thing the three friends did notice about this jail: he and Frank were locked up in the men’s cell and she was locked up in the women’s cell so they didn’t share a cell.

That’s when Gloria saw Ryan’s text message. Her cell was in need for a charge, but there was no way for her to charge it in this huge women’s cell she had shared with a couple women. She did notice she didn’t bring her charger along.


	20. Chapter 20

Jessica was still holding the clue/evidence she was holding in her hands. Both had recognized it as a man’s wallet. Both she and Ryan looked inside the light gray wallet.

“What do you think is in that wallet?” Jessica asked Ryan.

All he could do was shrugging his head.

Ryan let Jessica open the wallet. While watching her unzip the wallet with a quiet zipping sound. It finally opened.

“Could this be Andy’s wallet?” Jessica asked.

“Is there an ID in it?” Ryan asked.

They both took a peek in the wallet. It turned out Ryan had been right – it was indeed Andy’s wallet.

While going through the wallet, brother and sister heard Ryan’s cell beep.

“Hello?” he asked.

It was their stepbrother, Henry Webber. Henry had come from their mother, Velma from her second marriage. Henry was born as a triplet and is now a retired television actor. He had started out by acting in school plays and successfully did well in three television shows.

“Hi, Ryan. Could you and Jessica come over to the house and help me getting Arthur a bath? I really can’t find anyone to do so. You two are my last hope,” Jessica heard Henry say.

“I’m sorry, Henry. Jess and I are out of town. In case you haven’t heard, Kylie’s brother is murdered and we are trying to find out who did this,” Ryan said.

“Could one of you still come home to help me? I haven’t been able to watch television since Arthur keeps me busy from other things I would like to do on my own,” Jessica heard.

“Hold on while I talk to Jess,” Ryan said.

He put the phone on mute so he and Jessica could talk about it.

“What do you think? Should one of us go to Utah and help Henry while the other stays behind?” 

“How about you go and I stay here?” she suggested.

“Okay with me,” Ryan said as he returned to his conversation with Henry.

“Henry, we talked about it. I will go to Utah and help you with Arthur and Jess will stay here in Milwaukee.”

“All right.”

They hung up. Henry’s entire life has been stressful, Jessica and Ryan remembered.

“How about you fly out now?” Jessica suggested.

“Good idea, Sis. I will see you when I get back. Tell the gang I had to leave,” Ryan told her.

“I will,” Jessica said and watched him disappear. Jessica watched Ryan leave as she got her cell phone out of her royal blue short – sleeved shirt.

Before she could take a picture of Andy’s wallet on her cell, she pushed her long hair out of the way. She decided it was high time she had a haircut done. She planned on doing so after the case was solved. Then she took a picture of the wallet and sent it to the gang and texted Kylie to tell her to share on facebook.


	21. Chapter 21

At the sheriff’s department, Danny and Frank both heard their phones beep. The message indeed was from Jessica. They both looked at the wallet.

“Why would Jess send us a picture of a wallet?” Frank asked.

Danny shrugged his shoulders and said, “It doesn’t look familiar. Why would a wallet involve the murder?” Danny asked.

Another shrug from Frank.

“I have no clue on this one. Toughie. I can tell you one thing about that wallet,” Frank replied.

“What?” Danny asked, interested in his friend’s theory. 

“I have a hunch this is a man’s wallet,” Frank said.

“Could be. I never thought of that,” Danny replied.

In the ladies’ cell, Gloria had questions of her own about the wallet.

She knew the wallet looked familiar but she couldn’t place it. Why would a man’s wallet have to do with the murder? Gloria thought to herself. She would work on figuring out where she knew the wallet looked familiar. She also knew the wallet didn’t belong to any of her school friends. She knew this was true.

When her phone stopped at the last bar, Gloria would charge the darn thing once they were able to leave the cell. Danny sent a text message to Kylie on what happened to him, Frank and Gloria. She returned: How did you end up in the cells? 

I have no idea. Gloria and Frank got caught from Cline himself and I was caught from one of the deputies when I was going to check out the patrol car. Tsk, tsk. I wish I was there to bail you out. I could have Patsy bail you three out. I know she has to answer phones at my firm, but I’ll see if she could get away for a while, she texted back. Thanks, he answered.

Jessica hoped the gang got her picture of the wallet. She did tell Kylie in her text message she could post it on their facebook page. Every time they found a clue in their cases, they would take pictures of the clue from the cell phone and share it on facebook so the fans would see their latest clue. Also on facebook the gang would take pictures of the murderers and victims.

This time they couldn’t share a picture of Andy in the squad car because Andy was nowhere in the car to gave his picture taken. After the latest clues were posted on facebook, Kylie didn’t notice a picture from Danny when the gang first arrived to Milwaukee. She saw the picture. It was a picture of a nice hot and sunny afternoon and saw the patrol car in the background.

Right away she didn’t see the blood was all over inside and outside of the car. She kept studying the picture of the sheriff’s car to see if she could figure it out. She also shared the evidence of the car onto their facebook page. She sent a text to the gang everything had been updated.

Kylie thought Danny’s picture could use some more clues on the patrol car. While studying the facebook updates, Kylie got out her cell phone and called her law firm. Kylie explained the situation Gloria, Frank and Danny being in the sheriff’s office behind bars. Kylie finished her call. That’s when her daughter, Claudia came back with Danny’s toolbox.

“Hi, Mom. You won’t believe how hot it is out there this afternoon,” Claudia told her.

“I believe you, dear. Daphne left to get some groceries,” Kylie replied.

“I won’t mind making supper tonight,” Claudia said.

“Thanks for offering, sweetheart, you can help your sister,” Kylie suggested.

“I’ll talk to her when she comes in.”

That’s when Claudia saw the latest updates Kylie had recently posted on Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation’s facebook page.

“I can see you’ve been working on Andy’s murder, Mom. Any new clues?” Claudia asked.

“The wallet and the patrol car are the latest we have at the minute,” Kylie answered.


	22. Chapter 22

Danny and Frank studied their cell phones, trying to figure out whose wallet it belonged to.

“We know one thing about this wallet,” Danny spoke up.

“What’s that one thing?” Frank asked, curious.

“We do know it doesn’t belong to one of our classmates,”

“I never thought about that,” Frank replied.

Since she and Ryan had not much luck for witnesses. The patrol car wasn’t far away. She wondered how much luck Danny had when he was here. Like Danny, she stepped into the yellow police tape. She hoped the police wouldn’t catch her. So far, so good, Jessica thought silently to herself.

She was on her last bar of her phone like Gloria was. She wandered around the car to see if she had any luck searching the entire squad car. She found one thing Danny missed: the murder crime scene was that the victim Andy, was sitting behind the wheel, no weapon. She did notice the patrol car’s window had shot right into the window where the wheel was.

Jessica couldn’t believe what she had just seen. She took a picture of the car to send it to the gang. Yes, she remembered Danny sent the exact picture. Maybe Danny didn’t get far enough to check the window of the car when he had sent in his picture of the crime scene. She typed up the patrol car had been broken.

She knew this murder case really had been successful so far. She couldn’t wait to be with Kylie again. She figured that Kylie already knew about the Mystery Machine replaced to an entire new car.

Back in the cell, Danny and Frank saw a familiar face and it sure wasn’t Kylie herself.

It turned out the woman had light red hair with hazel eyes, hair looked like it needed to be cut, a pair of Sketchers and trees on it, and a pair of crepe pants. The pants matched her shirt. She was in her mid – forties.

“Hi, Patsy. What are you doing here?” Frank asked the woman.

Patsy answered, “After Kylie told me what had happened with you two and Gloria, she asked me to bail the three of you since she was still home after what happened to her,” Patsy told them.

“Where’s Gloria?” Patsy asked.

“We’re not sure, Patsy, but she didn’t share the same cell with us,” Danny spoke up.

“We’ll ask the police where she could be,” Patsy suggested.

So both Frank and Danny followed Patsy to look for Sheriff Cline. Jeremy Cline himself was behind the desk when she saw Frank and Danny with her.

“Just how did you break out?” Sheriff Cline asked in a tone of voice nobody liked.

“She bailed us out,” Frank returned as Danny nodded.

“They’re telling the truth, Sheriff. We were wondering what happened to Ms. Rogers,” Patsy said.

The three of them did notice how tired Cline looked. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week or two.

“Follow me,” he told the trio.

One thing Gloria didn’t expect: Patsy was here to bail her out.

Kylie noticed Jessica’s picture looked so much like the one Danny had sent. Kylie saw Jessica’s note from the bottom of the picture: I found out the car had been shot through the window. That really interested Kylie for sure. Gloria had sent her what she had thought of this mystery so far. Kylie never thought any of her friends (except Danny) would catch what Danny had missed when he sent the picture by text message. Her guess was he probably didn’t take a closer look like Jessica did and he had pushed the “Sent” button a bit too fast to notice.


	23. Jailhouse Rock and In the Jailhouse Now

Frank sighed quietly to himself in relief he, Danny, and Gloria were finally out of the jailhouse.

Sheriff Cline really did hear Frank’s sigh in relief. A jail song popped up in Frank’s thoughts while he, Danny and Gloria waited for Patsy. Johnny Cash’s song came to his mind:

He’s in the jailhouse now  
He’s in the jailhouse now  
I told him once or twice  
To quit playin’ cards and shootin’ dice  
He’s in the jailhouse now

He’s in the jailhouse now  
He’s in the jailhouse now  
I told him once or twice  
To quit playin’ cards and shootin’ dice  
He’s in the jailhouse now

Well I went out last Tuesday  
Met a girl named Susie  
I told her I was the swellest man around  
Well she started in to spend my money  
She started in to call me honey  
We took every honky tonk in town

We’re in the jailhouse now  
We’re in the jailhouse now  
They told us once or twice  
To quit playin’ cards and shootin’ dice  
We’re in the jailhouse now

Were the lyrics that he could remember. Another jail song popped in his head except it was Elvis Presley’s Jailhouse Rock. It went like this:

Warden threw a party in the county jail  
The prison band was there and they  
Began to dwell  
The band was jumpin’ and the joint  
Began to swing  
You should’ve heard the knocked out jail  
Birds sing  
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock  
Everybody in the whole cell block  
Was dancin’ to the jailhouse rock  
Spider Murray played the tenor  
Saxophone  
Little Joe was blowin’ to the slide  
Trombone

The rummer boy from Illinois going  
Crash boom bang  
The whole rhythm section was the  
Purple gang  
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock  
Everybody in the whole cell block  
Was dancin’ to the jailhouse rock  
Number forty – seven said to number three  
You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see  
I sure would be delighted with your  
Company  
Come on and do the jailhouse rock  
With me  
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock  
Everybody in the whole cell block  
Was dancin’ to the jailhouse rock

That’s when Frank felt Danny tap his shoulder.

“What were you thinking, Frank?” Danny asked.

“Nothing,” Frank replied.

Danny looked at Frank, thinking to him that it had to be something that was making Frank so quiet. Sheriff Cline was watching the two. That’s when Patsy arrived with Gloria.

“You can go. Next time I catch you three back here in my office, you’re going to be locked up again,” Sheriff Cline warned then the three left with Patsy.

“I have to attend to the phone calls at the office, and if you ever get into trouble again, call Kylie,” Patsy said, acting like she had meant it.

“I’ll handle these two,” Gloria told Patsy.

“Thanks,” Patsy said and had a taxi take her to the airport.

Gloria remembered she needed to charge her cell.

“Where’s the Mystery Machine, Danny?” Gloria asked.

“At the crime scene. I was going to look for the sheriff to ask him about the crime scene and there was no sign of him, so I thought I’d check the crime scene myself and see what I can find on the scene. The only luck I had was the bloodied squad car itself. Guess I didn’t look hard enough,” Danny told the others.

“So that’s why you ended up being caught like we did?” Frank asked.

“Right. Only one of Cline’s deputies caught me red handed since I stepped into the evidence. That sheriff’s deputy was a woman. That I didn’t except was being caught by a female sheriff’s deputy. Like the old saying goes, times have changed so I guess the old saying I true,” Danny went on.

“Jessica and Ryan didn’t have any luck on finding witnesses,” Frank reported.

“We’ll find them sooner or later. Whoever was the witness or witnesses could be somebody from another country,” Gloria spoke up.

“I didn’t think of that one,” Danny said as Frank nodded.


	24. Chapter 24

Meanwhile, Kylie studied Jessica’s picture of a man’s wallet. She kept trying to figure out why that wallet looked so familiar. She hunched the man’s wallet was belonging to anyone in her family. Kylie wondered how much success Patsy had with her friends at the sheriff’s department. She would find out sooner or later. She was about to receive another text message when Claudia came back with Danny’s toolbox once more.

“Hi, Mom,” Kylie finally heard her daughter say.

Kylie didn’t send Claudia any eye contact since she was busy looking at Jessica’s photo.

“Didn’t you hear me, Mom?” Claudia asked.

Still no answer from Kylie. Daphne, her youngest sister, was in the kitchen, making that night’s dessert, which was blueberry cobbler.

“Hi, Daph,” Claudia said when she entered the small kitchen. 

It had everything a kitchen would need: a stove, microwave, toaster, bread box, a table and a few chairs, sink, cupboard, dishwasher, fridge.

“What’s going on with Mom, Daph?” Claudia asked before a return of hello from Daphne.

“What are you talking about?” Daphne asked, not reading her older sister’s query.

“I just came in from taking care of a few of Daddy’s tenants. Mom didn’t make eye contact or answer me,” Claudia said worriedly.

“I’ll be there in a minute or two. I want to put this cobbler in the stove,” Daphne told her sister.

After setting the timer, Daphne followed Claudia into the living room. Their mother was lying on a two pillow blue and black leather couch, laptop and cell phone beside her. Kylie didn’t bother holding both laptop and cell phone beside her. Kylie didn’t bother holding the cell phone to study the man’s wallet. She didn’t even hear her girls walk in.

That’s when Kylie felt Daphne tap her on her shoulder. Kylie finally lifted her head up to give her daughter’s eye contact. 

“Mom, are you okay?” Claudia asked.

“You didn’t answer me when I came in,” Claudia said to Kylie.

“Sorry, sweetheart. I’m trying to figure out a photo Jessica sent me,” Kylie told the two.

“Can we see the picture, Mom?” both sisters asked, getting interested in their mother’s case about their uncle. 

Kylie handed Claudia her cell phone for the girls to see.

“This case is too violent for you two. The gang and I would appreciate if you both can identify the wallet,” Kylie told them.

Both Daphne and Claudia took one good long look at Jessica’s photo. The wallet looked like it wasn’t from indoors at all. The wallet somehow looked like it was found on a sunny day and not a rainy day.

“That doesn’t look familiar to us, Mom. We’ll keep looking at it,” Daphne responded.

“I understand, girls. We’re working on it.”


	25. Chapter 25

Jessica knew she should’ve said while she sent the picture of the wallet to the gang, she should’ve added in a side note that the wallet belonged to the late Deputy Sheriff Andrew Jones. Somehow she thought it was a good idea to let the gang figure this one out for themselves. She heard her cell beep. It was from her brother, Ryan.

‘Hi, Sis. I’m afraid I’ll have to stay with Henry a bit longer. He’s having trouble finding someone to help him with Arthur. I will be staying here until we can find someone. I got that picture you sent. I haven’t been able to study it yet. I’ll let you know when I’m coming back to the case. Ryan.’ She answered back, ‘Okay, Ryan. See you then. Sis’

She put her cell back in her royal blue shirt’s pocket. She had always kept her cell phone in her shirt pocket wherever she went since she would never know when she might need it. She saw a thick hand cover her mouth. She realized she couldn’t scream for help since her friends were nowhere around to hear her scream.

She did notice the man behind her who had his hand on her mouth. He indeed was the same person who kidnapped her before. The man was big: stood at six feet and ten inches, mask over his face, weighed a little over three hundred pounds, black button shirt with pants matching the shirt and socks and shoes. He was wearing brand new Sketchers.

He tied her up in a rope so she couldn’t escape from freedom. He said nothing. She thought he looked Hispanic and he had a partner or two. Could this guy be Andy’s murderer? She asked silently to herself. She would have to wait and find out for herself sooner or later. Her phone really was in need to have some charging but she remembered the charger was in the Mystery Machine.

Her phone could never beep to let her know she had new messages because of the need to be charged. She couldn’t tell where she and the masked man were headed since he also blindfolded her so she wouldn’t know. No matter how hard she tried to scream, it was still hopeless nobody would hear her.


	26. Chapter 26

Meanwhile, Danny texted Kylie from his hotel room. Refreshed cell phone battery life, he now was able to use the cell again. After recharging his cell, Gloria and Frank were doing the same thing. Gloria was still figuring out the mystery wallet. Danny texted: ‘Hi, Kylie. Frank, Gloria and I are safe and sound after Patsy bailed us out.’ ‘Glad to hear the three of you are all right. Jess and Ryan didn’t have any luck to finding any witnesses to this mystery. I hope they’re all right. By the way, Jess found something about the sheriff’s car you sent. She saw it had been fired through the windows to kill Andy while he was doing patrol.’ ‘I guess I didn’t get a closer look at that patrol car that I sent the picture too soon to figure it out. I forgot. The gang and I won’t be able to bring our parents’ Mystery Machine home with us after the murder is solved.’ ‘How come? Was there something wrong?’ ‘Yeah, there is. It died when we were leaving Los Angeles so we had somebody to give us a car dealer for a new car. When we were looking for the new mobile, there was a van that was so similar to the old Mystery Machine so we test drove it and bought it. Thought you had to know about the car problem.’ ‘Thank you for telling me, honey. I am doing fine. The girls have been a huge help to me while you and the gang are working on the murder, so I think to happen I’m pretty much healed.’ ‘That’s great news, honey. Have you seen the doc lately?’ ‘Not yet. I’ll have Daph call in for me. If I’m pretty much healed, do you want me to start looking for a new bed or two?’ ‘I forgot about that. Go ahead and look. If you can’t find anything, we can look together when the gang and I solve the murder.’ ‘Deal. Claudia seems to be doing well with the tenants since you’ve been gone.’ ‘Tell her I appreciate it.’ ‘Will do. Talk again soon’ and they signed off.


	27. Chapter 27

Ryan and Henry finally were able to find somebody to help Arthur.

“I really should head back to Milwaukee and solve the murder, Henry. I’m sure you’ll be able to read about it in the papers and on TV.” 

“Thanks for the big help, Ryan. I will look forward to hear the murder is solved. Arthur and I have been praying for you and your friends,” Henry told Ryan.

“I will tell the gang you have been praying for us. Don’t bother driving me to the airport. You’ve stressed enough so I will call for a cab.”

“I appreciate you understand about how much stress I have. I’ve lived it with my entire life,” Henry said after Ryan called for a cab.

“The cab will be here shortly. I did enjoy spending some time with you and Arthur while I’ve been working on the murder,” Ryan told his stepbrother.

“We enjoyed it too, Ryan. Tell Mom hello from Arthur and I.”

“I will,” Ryan returned. 

The cab arrived in under five minutes. Henry walked Ryan to the taxicab when. When Ryan was in the cab, he and Henry waved as the taxi drove off. He texted the gang to let them know he was coming back to work on the murder. After sending his message, he sent Jessica a message and asked if she could pick him up at the airport.

When he didn’t get a response, he started to worry about his sister. While Ryan and the gang were busy on the murder case, he didn’t have any time to think about Keith and Linda. He thought about his children the entire plane ride back to Milwaukee. He wondered how his daughter and son were doing since he left with the gang to solve this murder case. He knew for sure Keith and Linda missed him as much he missed them.


	28. Chapter 28

Meanwhile, Danny was talking to his mother, Daphne Blake. Like her other friends, Daphne was also in her late eighties. Danny, on the other hand, showed no interest in being rich like his mother’s family did.

“Mom, did you hear about the case the gang and I are working on?” Danny asked Daphne.

“Yes, I did. I hope you’re not getting hurt,” Daphne told him.

“Nope. Not on this case. Want me to tell you what’s been going on since the gang and I left Los Angeles?” 

“Go ahead, dear,” Daphne told him.

“When the gang and I looked around to see what car we wanted, there was a van that looked like the Mystery Machine you and your gang once drove in. It’s a SUV and before we bought the van, we took a test drive to see if we wanted it or not, so we did.

“On our way out and were on the road again, we met a couple who drove by and asked if we were Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation, we said we were. After the couple drove off, Jess was kidnapped so we all split up in different directions to look for her. While we did that, Gloria and Frank found a box of stale Scooby Snacks that were twenty years of age.

“Frank ended up tasting one and ended up throwing up the dog treat when we separated to look for Jess. When we made it to Milwaukee, we checked into a hotel and ended up in two different rooms. Thanks a lot for packing me so much stuff, Mom. It took me a long time to unpack.

“After we finished unpacking, I split the gang up to start looking for clues.”

Daphne interrupted her son's story.

“Wasn’t splitting up Kylie’s job?” Daphne asked.

“Yes, it is, Mom, but this time Kylie couldn’t help us on her brother’s murder case. She helped us from home since she had an accident. I split the gang by our usual groups: me by myself, Gloria and Frank in another group, and Jess and Ryan in the last group.

“I went one direction and went to look for the sheriff, Gloria and Frank went to the sheriff’s department and Jess and Ryan went to search for witnesses. While I went to look for the sheriff at the crime scene, the sheriff was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t bother trying any of his steps since I didn’t know where the sheriff goes, so I stayed at the crime scene.

“After I walked over the yellow police tape, I went over to the squad car and took a look at it. I didn’t get much of a close look on the evidence. I hit the ‘send’ button a bit too fast and not missing anything. I only had time to send a picture of the bloodied car since one of the deputies caught me redhanded.

“One thing I didn’t expect was a female deputy sheriff who noticed me and handcuffed me and took me to the sheriff’s office to be locked up. I was surprised to see Frank and Gloria in the jail cells. Gloria didn’t end up in the same cell as Frank and I were. Before being caught, Gloria sent us a photo she sent of some sort of electronic.

“We knew one thing about it: it looked nothing of a cell phone. Jess did send us a picture of a man’s wallet we couldn’t identify who it belonged to and still can’t. We know it didn’t belong to a former classmate. Jess pointed out when she sent that photo, money, credit cards and other items had been stolen except for the identifcation.

“Back at home, Kylie shared all of our clues on facebook. Even she hasn’t had a clue who that wallet belonged to. We weren’t exactly sure if Jess knew who the wallet belong to but if she did, she would have mentioned it. While we were in the cells, we were bailed out from Patsy.

“Then the sheriff let us go. While the three of us were behind bars, we got another picture from Jess, who had sent the same picture I did. She found something about the car I had missed. The patrol car had been fired through the window and it hit Andy and the next minute he was gone.

“That was something I did miss. At least we’re thankful Jess caught that. And Ryan had to fly all the way over to Utah to help out with Henry. So that’s all what had happened,” Danny finished.

“That is a lot since you and your friends had started the case. And yet it was a very interesting story you told me. Think you’re almost done with closing the case?” Daphne asked.

“I’m not sure, but my guess might be almost. We still don’t have any witnesses to Andy’s murder or murderer. We haven’t been able to figure out those just yet.”

“I hope you have good luck to solving this case. I’m very proud of you,” Daphne complimented her only child.

“Thanks, Mom.”


	29. Chapter 29

Back at the apartment, Kylie already had her brother’s wallet on facebook. She hoped someday would recognize it. Before she knew it, Claudia and Daphne entered the living room.

“Mom, I think we found out who that wallet belongs to,” Daphne said.

“Do tell,” Kylie told her daughters with interest.

“We happen to think it belonged to Uncle Andy,” Claudia replied.

“No wonder it looked so familiar,” Kylie said as the news came. The anchor brought up the murder of Andy up – to – date. 

“It looks like Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation is getting very close to cracking this murder. The group had some clues such as an electronic, wallet, photos of the squad car. Ms. Anderson found a clue that Mr. Blake had missed: the police car window had been fired so Deputy Sheriff Jones was murdered.”

Then the anchor continued to talk about the weather, sports, etc. Then the news ended for the day.

“Looks like you’re getting close to solve Uncle Andy’s case, Mom,” Daphne said, pushing her blonde bangs out of the way.

“It looks like it. I need to make a call to Grandpa and see what he thinks,” Kylie told the two young women.

So Kylie called Fred, her father at his house.

“I just saw the news, sweetheart.”

“Do you think this murder is ready to be wrapped up?” she asked.

“I would think so. I think I have a plan. Do any of you find who the murderers are let alone the witnesses?” Fred asked.

“No,” she answered.

“I can tell you part of the plan,” Fred told her.

“What is your plan this time, Dad?” 

“The minute you find the murderer, take him to court let alone with the witness and question them from there,” Fred suggested.

“Good idea, Dad. I like it,” Kylie replied.

Fred knew she would agree to his plans as usual.

That’s when Kylie, Daphne, and Claudia heard the kitchen phone ring. Claudia immediately went to answer it. It was Ryan, acting very worried. He told Claudia they haven’t heard from Jessica in the past hour or so.

“Have you tried searching for her?” Claudia suggested.

“Not yet. I’ll get the others to help search,” Ryan said.

“I’d do that now if I were you,” Claudia told Ryan.

“We won’t know where to look,” he said, worried about his sister.

“You can try, even if you don’t know your way around Milwaukee,” Claudia told him.

“We’ll give it a go at it and see what we can do. Thanks for the suggestion,” he said as they hung up. 

Claudia told the other two what had happened. Kylie was already off the telephone with her father.

Ryan told the others what Claudia had suggested. Gloria seemed to like the idea. They didn’t want to split up this time, so the gang went as a group. They got back into the Mystery Machine. This time, Ryan took the wheel. He started driving every place he and the gang could think of. They thought they would check the first try and see where they could find her.

The gang still did not have any thoughts as to who could be a witness who saw Andy murdered. They would ask Jessica this once they found her. While locking the Mystery Machine, Gloria’s cell phone began to ring.

“Hello?” Gloria said as she and the gang started walking away from the van.

The gang had to stop for a few seconds so Frank could tie his shoes.

“Hi, Gloria,” Kylie said.

“We’re searching for Jess right now. We have a hunch that she knows a witness is watching her and the murderer,” Gloria said to their friend.

“That’s a very good guess,Gloria. I could share this with Dad,” Kylie told her.

“Good idea,” Gloria agreed.

“I was talking with Dad not too long ago. He did start a plan for us, but I think it’s a lot easier to send it as a text message for you all at the same time,” Kylie replied.

“Sounds good.”

They hung up.


	30. Chapter 30

Kylie asked the girls if they would like to go into town with her.

“Sure, Mom. What for?” Daphne asked.

“Your father and I were talking about new beds. We think it’s time for the old ones to go,” Kylie told her.

“We’ll be happy to go with you and see what new beds you and Daddy would like. I wish I could tag along, but I need to take care of Daddy’s tenants for him,” Claudia told Kylie.

“All right. We see the point,” Kylie told her as she and Daphne grabbed the car keys to her and Danny’s car. Their car was a 1998 Honda, which could only hold two people.

Daphne let Kylie drive for a change since now was able to get off the couch since she was able to walk around now. The two of them entered one of the stores at the mall and went to check out the beds for Kylie and Danny.

“Wouldn’t you rather wait to do this when Daddy comes home?” Daphne asked.

“Your father let me do it while he was away and told me if I couldn’t find anything, we could do it when he returns,” she told Daphne.

“Okay,” Daphne replied.


	31. Chapter 31

As soon everyone had left, Danny snapped a photo of the wallet. The wallet was not like Andy’s at all. It was medium – sided, black (of course), held enough room for cash, change, ID, credit cards. After sending the photo, Danny opened the wallet to see what was inside. So he did.

After sending the wallet to his friends, Danny heard his phone beep. It was from Kylie. ‘Thanks for sending this, hon. It looks like it is the same size as Andy’s except the color. By the way, the girls think the other wallet belonged to.’ ‘Who? I checked the contents in this wallet. I found credit cards with Andy’s name on them along with cash and change. I don’t see any ID that belongs to the owner. It doesn’t have the right ID in this wallet.’ ‘Whoa. Great work, honey. I will share this on facebook. Daphne and Claudia think the wallet you and Jess did send belonged to Andy.’ ‘Wow. We think we found out who our witness is.’

Tony had been here ever since Andy had been shot in the squad car. Tony had been following the murderer since then.

“Did you report this to the sheriff at all?” Gloria asked.

“I can’t! He’s my dad,” Tony answered.

Tony was actually a sixteen – year – old who was on the football team for his high school. Whenever Tony got scared, he would be frightened like a four – year – old. 

“Did he ever feed you or let you drink any water?” Frank asked as she shook her head no.

“We’ll give you something in a jiffy,” Danny promised their friend.

“Thank you,” Jessica said in a dry voice.

They left the laundry place to find a resturant to eat and she could use the restroom.

After walking out of the ladies’ room, the gang drove to Tina’s.

“Let’s see if they’re full or not,” Frank suggested.

Everyone agreed.

The minute the gang walked in the place was half – full. A waitress came their way.

“How many?” the twenty – some girl asked.

The gang studied her. She was cute.

The girl’s nametag read Charlene. Charlene was wearing her work clothes. Tina, the owner and chef of this resturant was in the kitchen cooking. The girl, Charlene, led them to a table for the five of them. She wore her work clothes that had the resturant’s logo on her left side. The logo of Tina’s was in italic cursive, and it was in black and white. Charlene’s pants also had matching color to the shirt minus the logo. Her eyes were light brown and recently had a haircut. Her hair was dark brown with curls.

“I will be back with your drinks,” Charlene told the gang and disappeared.

The group looked a the menus. Some of the meals were a bit pricey so they thought they wouldn’t pay those. Of course, Danny was on the rich side so he didn’t have to worry about money. Still, Danny didn’t want to be on the rich side like his mother, Daphne Blake was.

Charlene returned with their drinks.

“Here is the water, two milks, and Coors light,” Charlene said as she put the drinks in front of them.

At first Charlene didn’t recognize the gang.

“Are we ready to order?” she asked.

The gang nodded. Jessica went first.

“I think I’ll have a combo of taco and a taco salad,” Jessica ordered.

Gloria went next and ordered a enchilda plate. Danny ordered the taco enchilda. Ryan and Frank shared a chicken enchilda. The combo came with a salad, so Jessica took it. Charlene left.

“Gang, I think I know who our murderer is,” Jessica spoke up.

“Who?” everyone asked in unison.

“This guy is big. He looks like he’s Hispanic. He’s somewhere in his early forties. He wears a mask so I couldn’t see his face. He wore black button shirt, block matching pants, socks and shoes. He looked to be over six feet,” Jessica described.

“This happened when you were kidnapped, right?” Ryan asked.

“Bingo. All we need is a plan,” Jessica told her friends.

They once again agreed.

“Kylie shared a bit of the plan,” Ryan said since Kylie sent the text message.

“I really need to recharge my phone since it was low,” Jessica replied.

“We can do that when we get back to the room,” Frank told her.

Meanwhile, Kylie got a text message from Frank, telling her they found the murderer.

‘Good work. Who is he?’ she texted back. ‘We really don’t know. Only Jess knows that. She described him as a Hispanic, early forties, wore a mask, wore black button shirt, matching pants, shoes, and socks.’ ‘I’ll let you know once I complete the trap,’ Kylie sent. ‘Great,’ Frank returned and put his phone away.

“Kylie said she’ll let us know when the trap will be complete,” Frank said.

Once the gang paid for their meals, Gloria drove the Mystery Machine back to the hotel. Everyone said good – night and walked into their rooms.

“Feel better now, Jess?” Gloria asked her.

“You bet I do. I’m bushed,” Jessica said.

The girls decided to sleep in separate beds. Their beds were queen – sized beds, with the bedspreads in a disgusting dark red and light pink with a bit of black. The blankets under the bedspreads where the old – fashioned white with matching pillows to lie on. The room held a built – in television set, the beds with a clicker for the television along with the TV guide, built – in lamps by the beds, a clock, and a tiny bathroom with a shower.

 

The guys’ room was identical from the girls’ room, so two of the guys would have to share a bed. Gloria decided to take a quick shower. While waiting her turn, Jessica turned the TV on. She went through the guide. She turned to the Turner Classic Movies Channel.


	32. Chapter 32

Back in Los Angeles, Kylie again was on the telephone with her father, Fred.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Fred greeted Kylie.

“Hi, Dad. I have some good news for you,” Kylie told him happily.

“I can tell by your tone of voice it’s good news. Don’t tell me. You solved Andy’s case, right?” Fred asked her.

“Right, Dad. Jess was kidnapped at the start of the case. She thinks the man who kidnapped her could be the murderer,” Kylie went on.

“Describe him. Maybe I might remember him from one of our mysteries,” Fred said.

“Okay. Jess said he was Hispanic, had a mask on his face, had a black button shirt, pants, socks and shoes that matched. She said she thought he was about six feet,” Kylie said, using Jessica’s description of Gable.

“That description you gave me doesn’t sound familiar,” Fred said when Kylie finished describing.

“I think I’ve finished our trap when you gave me the man’s description, sweetheart.”

“What’s the trap this time?” Kylie asked with interest.

Every murder she and her friends worked on, Fred was always there to help with trap ideas.

“Here’s the plan, sweetheart. Since Frank won’t be bait in this case and Jessica was the one who spotted him when he had her. This time Jessica will be bait since she knows who he is and you don’t. When your friends capture him, if he still has the mask on, she will be the one to unmask him,” Fred said.

“I like it, Dad. We’ll give it a shot,” she said as they hung up.

After hanging up the kitchen phone, Kylie got out her cell phone to text the gang about Fred’s plan. She would have to forget court this time. Every case they had solved, she always questioned the murderers themselves. Of course she knew it was against the law for killing a police officer and it was known as first degree murder.

Like her friends, Kylie didn’t bother mentioning time travel to her parents. They probably would be having tons of questions so she and her friends thought it was a good way to keep it to themselves. It was now morning. Danny, Frank, and Ryan were the first ones awake and would meet the girls in the hotel lobby.

“I think we need the sheriff on this when we have shut the case down,” Frank said as Ryan had gotten a copy of the Milwaukee Journal. The front page did talk about the case.

“Listen to this section about the case,” Ryan said.

“Mystery Inc. 2nd Generation is almost closing this case of Deputy Jones.

“It had been a long thirteen years for this case to shut down. Sheriff Larry Nelson, the newest officer on the force, didn’t like working on cold cases so he automatically closed the case after Sheriff Cline left the force,” Ryan finished when he read the rest of the article to Danny and Frank.

Gloria and Jessica finally arrived.

“Hi, guys. Gloria and received a text message from Kylie for our latest trap,” Jessica said once everyone finished saying good morning.

Gloria explained Fred’s trap.

“We’ll see if it works,” Frank said.

“Did Kylie say who should be live bait?” Frank asked.

Like his father, Frank wasn’t liking to be bait. His father, Shaggy Rogers was bait several times so Frank knew what his father had gone through.

Danny decided to keep a text message from Kylie secret from their friends.

‘Okay,’ he sent back.

The gang stayed for breakfast at the hotel. After they finished eating, they all decided to work on the plan. They drove back to the Laundromat right after their breakfast.

This time Jessica was driving the Mystery Machine. She knew the way, so the gang let her drive. While in the parking lot of the Laundromat, Ryan stayed with the Mystery Machine to call the former sheriff. The gang did see Gable’s car. Jessica did recognize the car.

“That’s his car,” Jessica pointed out.

The gang went to the place Gable had kept Jessica. He was there, all right. Sheriff Cline and his son came straight to where Ryan was with the Mystery Machine.

“We happened to capture your killer, Sheriff,” Ryan told Sheriff Cline.

Sheriff Cline said not a word so he and Tony followed him.

The gang had blocked every place Gable thought of running out. Before Sheriff Cline, Tony, and Ryan came, Jessica was able to unmask Gable. So she was able to unmask him. Now, for the first time Jessica finally got to see Gable’s face.

“Why did you kidnap me like that?” Jessica asked.

Gable said nothing.

“Let me guess. You stole our friend’s money, cash, credit cards and ID and put your indentification in his wallet. Am I right?” Jessica asked as he nodded still not answering.

“Would you like to introduce yourself?” Sheriff Cline asked.

“Dad, before we do that, there’s something I have to tell you,” Tony spoke up.

“What’s that?” Sheriff Cline asked.

“All these years Deputy Jones was dead, O have been the witness to this entire thing. I was busy being too scared to tell you,” Tony said.

“We’ll worry about this later. Right now I’m more interested in him,” Sheriff Cline told Tony.

“Yes, sir,” he said.

“This man here is the same man who did kill our friend, Deputy Jones,” Jessica said.

“Go on, miss,” Sheriff Cline told Jessica.

“This man here was the same person who kidnapped me here in this room. Did you exchange the cash, credit cards and ID from both wallets?” Gloria asked.

“Yes,” Gable said in a deep voice.

“Where you the same one who fired through the police car?” Danny asked.

Another yes from Gable.

“May I see both wallets please?” Sheriff Cline asked.

Gable had used Andy’s wallet instead of his own. Sheriff Cline unzipped the wallet. In Andy’s wallet, it had Gable’s ID, money, and credit cards. Sheriff Cline looked at Gable’s ID.

“You should know it’s the law to put your own money, credit cards and ID in another person’s wallet that doesn’t belong to you. You are under arrest for stealing, first degree murder, and robbery. You’re coming with me,” Sheriff Cline said and took Gable away.

“Thanks for capturing him. My department and I thank you a million,” Sheriff Cline told the gang.

“Our job, Sheriff,” Ryan said.

As usual, Fred’s plan worked again. Jessica sent Kylie a text message to let her know Fred’s trap had worked once more. ‘Thanks, Jess. I’ll be sure to tell Dad,’ she texted back.

The gang drove back to the hotel to pack, and collect the hotel bill and drive the newest Mystery Machine back to Los Angeles. Frank grabbed the bill when his friends went to pack.

“I guess you and Frank have to help me pack again since Mom packed so many things I didn’t need,” Danny told Ryan.

“Sure. Be glad to help,” Ryan returned.

Frank joined Ryan and Danny once more when he entered their room shortly.

“The desk clerk said he had got word about the case being solved,” Frank told them.

“News does travel fast,” Danny said.

After packing their suitcases and met at the Mystery Machine, the suitcases once again were put in the back of the van for the trip home.

Everyone else was surprised to learn from Frank the hotel already read about the case being solved.

“Like I said, news travels fast,” Danny told the gang.

When the gang didn’t look once they drove away, Danny saw another text from Kylie. ‘Our bed just arrived,’ she said, sending the picture so he could see. ‘I like it. We’re on our way home.’

The gang made it back to Los Angeles late that night. Gloria and Frank did not live together, but they lived right by each other. So she and Frank were dropped off first and then Danny was second so it left Jessica with the Mystery Machine at her house. After everyone were back at their homes, Danny had Kylie’s help with his bags.

“Great to have you and the gang safe and sound,” Kylie said as they kissed.

“So are we,” he said as they shut the apartment door behind them.

“Another mystery solved,” Kylie said as they both hugged.

“Who knows what our next mystery will be,” he said.

“We would never know,” Kylie said as they kissed one more time.


End file.
